Content for teachers and students about robotics in our world. Is robotics the Perfect Platform for 21st Century Learning? Read on!.. Would you like your student robotics activities presented here? Leave a comment or email me. And check out Robotics for Teachers PODCAST @ http://www.roboticsforteachers.com/

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Even thought its great that kids get to learn Robotics in school, how wonderful that they also have the opportunity to learn at home. This variety from Mattel is to be offered at a variety of retail outfits. How great it will be when kids commonly come to school already knowing a good deal about robots ...and school, instead of them starting them at square one, builds on their homegrown knowledge and takes them... much further!

"Mattel releases biologically inspired foldable robot bugs

Mattel’s been taking great pains to
update its product lines for a plugged-in generation of kids. Last month, the toy maker teamed up with Osmo
for an iPad-ready update to its popular Hot Wheels line, and now the company is
enlisting the help of another tech startup, Dash Robots. The pair’s
first collaboration is Kamigami, a robotics platform that lets kids build
their own robotic bugs.

Due out on Target store shelves
today, the toy features a six-legged robotic kit that should take roughly an
hour to assemble, using foldable plastic sheets. Each also comes with a
different origami shell that turns them into various bugs, like mantises,
ladybugs and scorpions.

Both Dash and its first major
consumer product are an outgrowth of U.C. Berkeley’s Biomimetic Millisystems
Lab, which draw inspiration from nature to build more efficient robotics.

“We had shown off our robots at
schools and outreach events to show off what robotics research is like,”
cofounder Nick Kohut tells TechCrunch. “Kids just went totally nuts for them
and the parents were asking where they could buy them. So we started selling
them on our own and had some mild success.”

Dash began life as a UCB spinoff by
selling its own kit for $65 a pop, ultimately teaming up with Mattel to help
mainstream the product. For obvious pricing and kid-friendly reasons,
Kamigami isn’t particularly complex, as far as biomimetic robots go, but the
product does draw inspiration from its biological counterparts. The connection
is particularly apparent in the product’s locomotion, using a stiff-legged gait
to move quickly across a surface.

Each $50 robot features an
accelerometer, gyroscope and an IR transmitter and receiver that allow them to
interact with their surroundings and one another for games like freeze tag and
“sumo,” in which they relentlessly bash into one another. They can also be
controlled remotely through the mobile app, or preprogrammed with a basic
coding application designed to teach some programming basics..."

That’s a problem Rohit and Sidharth Srinivasan saw first-hand during
four trips to three Indian orphanages from 2013 to 2016 to teach kids
STEM skills. They went on the trips with the Austin-based Miracle
Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports orphans worldwide.

And Paul Austin, ex-chief architect of National Instruments,
witnessed the same thing during visits to orphanages in Africa and India
from 2011 to 2016.

From teaching in India, Rohit Srinivasan and his brother learned that
the kids there were very smart, but they completely lacked in creativity
and problem-solving skills.

Also, the current STEM programs weren’t easy to replicate.
“We needed a way to go about scaling STEM programs for kids,” Rohit Srinivasan said.
Teaching STEM skills to kids is a problem even in the U.S. at schools with very tight budgets, he said.
Teachers need to find ways to teach robotics easily and affordably in
the U.S. and worldwide, said Austin. During his 28-year career at
National Instruments, Austin helped create the Lego Mindstorms NXT and
EV3, programmable robotics kits used in classrooms today.

In Austin, the Srinivasan brothers joined forces with Paul Austin to found Trashhbots
in spring of 2016 to create robotics kits and a curriculum that costs
around $80 per kit and can be controlled through Bluetooth technology
with a smartphone or tablet. They partnered with the Miracle
Foundation, Science in a Suitcase and a board design shop called TenX to
bring the project to life.

Trashbots did an initial test of its kits in India but officially did
a much bigger launch at South by Southwest EDU in Austin in March of
2017. At that event, Trashbots won the student pitch competition and had
a booth at the Expo where they received feedback from a lot of
teachers.

In April, Trashbots was selected to joinTarmac Texas, a
nine-month-long startup accelerator backed by 3M and CALSO and based at
Galvanize. They have office space at Galvanize and they regularly meet
with mentors and attend sessions to learn about building out their
business.

Trashbots is far less expensive than pre-existing STEM and robotics
kits and is easier to use than do it yourself kits, Rohit Srinivasan
said.

“The do it yourself kits are lower cost but require a huge amount of
work to go in and teach how to use the technologies,” Sidharth
Srinivasan said.

Trashbots’ kit components include the Trashbot brain, software,
components, curriculum, and trash or items sourced from the local
environment such as water bottles, rubber bands, sticks, tape, PVC pipes
and more, said Sidharth Srinivasan..."

Teachers see benefits of robots in classroom

Robot helpers

Chanute Elementary teachers who
witnessed a desktop robot leading a multi-stepped math lesson say they
can envision several ways a social robot could benefit student
learning.

The smart robots designed by Van
Robotics are being developed as a “study buddy or tutor” that will guide
students through a lesson, adapt lessons to a student’s ability,
respond to a child’s performance with words of encouragement or notice a
lack of focus and redirect the student, or ask if the child needs to
take a break.

“The demo was great in guiding the
students through a step-by-step process in completing multistep
problems,” said CES Title reading teacher Patty Small. “As long as the
technology holds the students’ attention, it could benefit them by
teaching them to become automatic and fluent in this process and any
other problem-solving activities that it may address.”

“I would really enjoy trying this out
in my classroom with kids that need some one-on-one time,” said second
grade teacher Nikki Jacobs, especially for those occasions when teachers
feel they have tried everything they know to help a child, but it’s not
working.

“As far as helping students with
Autism, the possibilities would be endless,” said fifth grade teacher
Madison Mitchell. “I could see it being used for social group, speech
pathology, reading and writing individualize lessons, and really lending
itself to the child’s brain ability.”

Shelly Kuhn, a speech pathologist who
works with children at CES and Humboldt, has seen the results of using
her robot Aisoy as part of her speech and language sessions.

“With my students I have seen
increased attention to task, a reduction of off-task behaviors, improved
social interaction, and working for longer amounts of time before
scheduled breaks,” Kuhn said.

With the support of administration at
the ANW Education Cooperative and a USD 413 Foundation grant, Aisoy
joined Kuhn’s speech-language program two years ago.

“Research has shown that children on
the Autism Spectrum have difficulty understanding social language. When
we speak, students must focus not only on the content of the messages
but also try to understand the nuances which accompany our speech, such
as pitch changes, volume, inflection, gestures, eye contact and many
facial expressions,” Kuhn explained. “That can be very overwhelming for
them. With the robot, students can focus on the content of the message
first and gradually learn the social factors of communication in a
non-threatening approach.”

Southeast Missouri State University senior Tyson Roth of Ste.
Genevieve, Missouri, is fine-tuning his math teaching skills with the
help of robots.

Roth, a middle school education major, is student teaching at the
Danby-Rush Tower Middle School in the Jefferson R-7 district to fulfill
his student-teaching requirements. He is assisting Hillary Hensley, a
2011 Southeast alumna, with STEM lessons and the use of LEGO®
MINDSTORMS® robot kits to teach math and technology to seventh grade
students.

“Tyson has been a great asset to my classroom. His content knowledge
is exceptional and he was totally prepared to be in the classroom,”
Hensley said. “Having a student teacher that is ready to be immersed in
the classroom work from day one creates a dynamic classroom that
supports student learning and gives them more resources.”

Read about how he’s using robotics to help students think outside the
box while using the creative side of their brains to solve engineering
problems.

On learning how to use robotics in the University’s EDvolution Center:
Dr. Bill Bratberg, the associate professor of middle and secondary
education, suggested that I teach a lesson with the EDvolution Center’s
robots for the Perryville School District. This project also tied in
with what I was learning about teaching math. The lesson dealt with
finding circumferences and programming the robots in a simulation that
required the robot to capture an alien and return to earth. The district
liked the lesson so much that they purchased robot kits and have
introduced the lessons into their curriculum.
Working
with the robots from the EDvolution Center helped me prepare for my
student teaching at Jefferson. If I didn’t have that experience, the
Jefferson students would have to teach me. The Center has great
technology for preparing teachers to create hands-on lesson plans.

On why robotics helps his students learn:
The robots give the students an opportunity to apply what they are
learning to hands-on projects. Sometimes, I tell them to just try. In
the real world, engineers are going to test and to see what goes wrong
and tweak it..."

Friday, October 6, 2017

"The students built robots and can learn to code through
the Lego sets contributed to the fifth-grade teacher Amber Coley’s
classroom.
Hunter Cresswell — The Times-Standard

On Tuesday morning one Morris Elementary School fifth-grade class
was surprised with Lego sets that will be used in lessons to introduce
students to science, technology, engineering, art and math fields.
The
two Lego robotics sets, two sets of miscellaneous bricks and a base
plate pack were requested by teacher Amber Coley and paid for with
funding from Chevron.

“This was something I’m super excited Chevron Fuel Your School provided,” Coley told her students.
Though she said she was excited, it was her students who were really enthusiastic.

“What’s in the box?” Carter Reves asked from the back of the
class before the plain cardboard box containing the Lego surprise was
opened.

The more than two dozen students in Coley’s class crowded around her for the reveal.

“Legos!” the students exclaimed as Coley held the sets above her head so all the kids could see.
Chevron
public affairs field manager Marian Catedral-King said the program gets
funding during the month of October when people gas up at Chevron gas
stations. Every 8 gallons of gas purchased gives $1 to the school
district the gas station is in, she said. In September, teachers across
the states log onto donorschoose.org
and submit funding proposals for their classrooms. Chevron picks
certain projects to fund, the most recent of which is Coley’s STEAM
project with the Lego sets, Catedral-King said.

“Since 2013, we’ve spent $400,000 in these counties,” she said about Humboldt, Del Norte, Mendocino and Lake counties.

This
includes $183,000 in funding for schools across Humboldt County and
$37,000 in funding for McKinleyville schools, Catedral-King said.

Coley
said she wants to use these sets to teach her students to work together
to build things and to code the Lego robot named “Milo” to perform
simple tasks.

After the Lego sets were revealed, Coley broke her
class up into groups two of which were given the robotics sets and
followed instructions to build Milo while the other groups were given
buckets of Legos to work together to create their own version of a robot
without instructions. The different groups created a variety of designs
for robots.

Damie, Carter and the rest of their group were all very excited to get their hands on Milo and write code.
McKinleyville
Union School District superintendent Jan Schmidt said programs like
this help teachers who sometimes pay for classroom supplies out of their
own pockets.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

The following, I gleaned from materials supplied on behalf of Little Bits. This looks to be a wonderful, highly engaging blend of fun, inspiration, and solid STEM Learning... Check out theDroid Inventor Kit, but also enjoy these 2 wonderful videos!

LittleBits has introduced its latest product, the Droid Inventor Kit.
For the first time ever, kids can create their own Droid and bring it to life! Using littleBits electronic blocks and the free Droid™ Inventor app, they’ll teach their R2 Unit new tricks and take it on 16+ missions.

With invention
at its core, the Droid Inventor Kit fosters creativity and
problem-solving skills. In-app challenges encourage kids to reconfigure
the littleBits technology in new and unique ways, in combination
with household items, so they can create their own custom Droids such
as a delivery Droid, a room guardian, and more.

The Droid Inventor Kit includes all the components needed for kids to create their very own Droid. A free app (iOS
and Android) completes the experience, providing step-by-step instructions and how-to videos.

The app guides kids as they put together their Droid and control it in
Drive Mode, Self-Nav, Force Mode, and more, making it the ultimate
galactic sidekick.

After mastering their Droid Inventor skills, kids continue on to
challenges that spark creativity and inspire them to create unique new
Droids.

Each littleBits electronic block has a different function such as a
power, motor, or sensor, which kids can use with their Droid in new and
exciting ways.

Included stickers and in-app missions encourage kids to customize their
Droid using crafts or household objects, giving their Droid its own
special personality.

Kids will take pride in creating any Droid they imagine, and parents will love the endless play opportunities.

About littleBitslittleBits
empowers kids around the world to become inventors. Founded in 2011 by
Ayah Bdeir, its innovative platform of easy-to-use electronic blocks
allows anyone to create and prototype
with electronics, independent of age, gender or technical ability. As
the leader in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and
Mathematics) learning, littleBits believes in creating the conditions of
invention by creating products that encourage self-directed
exploration and problem solving; support grit and tenacity; and create a
safe place to experience both failure and accomplishment. The company
is dedicated to successfully bridging the gender gap with its
gender-neutral platform, attracting an industry high
thirty five percent of young girls to invent with littleBits. By
embracing STEAM, both girls and boys can invent solutions to the
problems that matter to them. The company’s products have won over 150
industry awards in the toy and education industries. littleBits
is headquartered in New York. For more information and inspiration, go
to www.littleBits.cc.

Click on book cover for information

Getting Started with LEGO Robotics. Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!